July 8, 2001 – Fifty-seven Virgin Islands public high school teachers will get special training starting Monday in teaching advanced-placement courses that will be offered beginning in the fall.
The new "AP" courses, some of which have never before been available in the territory, are in Spanish, calculus, biology, U.S. history and English language and composition. They will be taught at all four of the territory's public high schools, Charlotte Amalie and Ivanna Eudora Kean on St. Thomas and Central and Education Complex on St. Croix.
Successful completion of advanced-placement courses allows participating students to enter college with some credits toward a degree.
Last school year, the only advanced-placement courses offered in the Virgin Islands were U.S. history (at both St. Croix schools) and English language (at Education Complex).
Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds could not say how many students would be taking the courses in the fall, but did say she expected full classes at all four schools in all of the AP subjects offered.
The training, along with support programs, is being funded by a three-year federal grant. Simmonds said the territory will get $282,000 a year for planning, training and testing.
The grant will also fund pre-AP courses at the junior high level and will support the reintroduction of "gifted and talented" programs in the elementary schools.
Five AP instructors from the U.S. mainland, selected for their experience with the AP curriculum, teaching expertise, creativity and endorsement by the College Board, will offer instruction in each of the five courses, according to the program brochure.
The teachers' training will start with an opening session at 9:45 a.m. Monday at the St. Croix campus of the University of the Virgin Islands. Sessions thereafter will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily through Friday, culminating with a closing ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sea Top Restaurant, where Simmonds will give the keynote address.
The cost of training is $400 per teacher and does not include accommodations on St. Croix for those traveling from St. Thomas or St. John.

The University of the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center in partnership with the Small Business Administration will sponsor a seminar "Advertising Your Business" from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 12 at the UVI-SBDC Training Facility at Nisky Center.
Admission is $20. Those who pre-register will receive a $5 discount. UVI students, faculty, and staff will be admitted free.
Registration on the evening of the seminar begins at 6:15 p.m.
For additional information or to pre-register contact the UVI-SBDC, Nisky Center, Suite 720 or phone 776-3206.

The Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission will hold their regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, July 12, at the VI Casino Control Commission offices, #5 Orange Grove, Christiansted. The public is invited to attend.
The agenda includes consideration of casino employee licenses and a hearing on the proposed amendment pertaining to the inspection of Caribbean stud poker jackpots valued at $25,000 or more by the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
For more information contact Shawna Richards at 773-3616.

July 8, 2001 — The Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission will hold their regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the VI Casino Control Commission offices, #5 Orange Grove, Christiansted. The public is invited to attend.
The agenda includes consideration of casino employee licenses and a hearing on the proposed amendment pertaining to the inspection of Caribbean stud poker jackpots valued at $25,000 or more by the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
For more information contact Shawna Richards at 773-3616.

The Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission will hold their regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, July 12, at the VI Casino Control Commission offices, #5 Orange Grove, Christiansted. The public is invited to attend.
The agenda includes consideration of casino employee licenses and a hearing on the proposed amendment pertaining to the inspection by the Division of Gaming Enforcement of Caribbean stud poker jackpots valued at $25,000 or more.
For more information contact Shawna Richards at 773-3616.

July 8, 2001 — The Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission will hold their regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the VI Casino Control Commission offices, #5 Orange Grove, Christiansted. The public is invited to attend.
The agenda includes consideration of casino employee licenses and a hearing on the proposed amendment pertaining to the inspection by the Division of Gaming Enforcement of Caribbean stud poker jackpots valued at $25,000 or more.
For more information contact Shawna Richards at 773-3616.

July 8, 2001 – The West Indian Co. board of directors has given WICO president Edward Thomas the go-ahead to negotiate with the Chicago-based company that purchased the Yacht Haven Hotel and Marina last year to lease the Long Bay landfill adjoining the hotel property.
"This project has the potential to be of great significance to our community," Thomas said in the July WICO News bulletin. "We are anxiously waiting for the dilapidated property to be removed from the landscape and … replaced with an attractive development."
David Dibo, principal of PRM Realty Group, said Friday that the WICO board's authorization is one more link in the chain of his company's plans for the Long Bay property and added that he is "really happy about it."
Thomas, a PRM representative and attorneys for both parties have held discussions regarding the leasing of the seven acres of WICO-owned landfill extending westward from the 4.5-acre Yacht Haven property. At a meeting in June, WICO board members were briefed on the discussions and, the newsletter said, authorized Thomas "and his team to proceed to negotiate a lease, subject to the board's ratification."
Dibo said Friday, "It's a process. The chains and the links keep coming together." He added, "We're waiting for a couple of documents, then will probably be coming down" to meet with Thomas and the WICO team.
Thomas, who also chairs the WICO board, pledged the "fullest cooperation" of the West Indian Co. with PRM to achieve "an aesthetically pleasing project" on the landfill property, according to the newsletter.
Dibo indicated in late May that PRM had held informal preliminary talks with WICO personnel before submitting a proposal in writing. This, he said, was in order to "understand what their expectations are and where they're coming from. There are a lot of issues in terms of the use of the property and how everything fits together … We have to master plan the whole site. In that process, we've got to figure out how their uses mix and match, and how it all goes together."
Preliminary design work, he said, had dealt with land "uses, rather than design." But he said PRM's concept was "to make it into some sort of exciting retail, resort-type use, definitely expanding the marina, definitely looking at the yachting community and catering to it in a way that's far different from how it is now."
Last year, PRM purchased the derelict Yacht Haven property, unrepaired and largely abandoned since sustaining major damage in Hurricane Marilyn in 1995, from Malaysian investor Tan Kay Hock for about $8 million. Tan had purchased it from a bank several years earlier but put it back on the market without making any improvements. A major stumbling block to Tan's expressed intention to rehabilitate the property was his failure to work out an arrangement with WICO to lease the adjacent landfill.
Dibo had said in May that he hoped to reach an agreement with WICO "within the next month," and the board gave Thomas its go-ahead three weeks later.
PRM already has completed preliminary technical site surveys, held permit pre-application meetings with Planning and Natural Resources Department personnel, and held discussions with the League of Women Voters and representatives of the yachtnig community. Dibo said that once agreement is reached on the landfill lease, PRM will apply for Coastal Zone Management Commission approval to raze some of the dilapidated Yacht Haven structures. He said in May that he envisioned the demoliton occurring "within six months or so" and that the project would be into the rebuilding phase "by this time next year, maybe even a little earlier."
Dibo has described his company's potential investment in the project as "hundreds of millions of dollars" involving the land, the marina, a retail component and a resort component.
According to Thomas, "the temporary and permanent employment this project will generate, and the caliber of clientele it should attract, will be a real boost to our economy."
For further background, see the earlier Source report, Yacht Haven owners readying WICO proposal.

July 8, 2001 — The St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce will host the first annual Battle of the Business Stars Volleyball Tournament starting at 9 a.m. Sunday, August 5, at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center.
Teams will be made up of six players with a maximum of three alternates. A lucky losers bracket allows for multiple play. Trophies will be given to 1st and 2nd place winners and the lucky loser team. Just 16 teams can be accommodated so businesses are encouraged to register as soon as possible by calling the chamber at 776-0100. Entry fee is $200 per team.

The St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce will host the first annual Battle of the Business Stars Volleyball Tournament starting at 9 a.m. Sunday, August 5, at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center.
Teams will be made up of six players with a maximum of three alternates. A lucky losers bracket allows for multiple play. Trophies will be given to 1st and 2nd place winners and the lucky loser team. Just 16 teams can be accommodated so businesses are encouraged to register as soon as possible by calling the chamber at 776-0100. Entry fee is $200 per team.

July 8, 2001 — The St.Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce will host the first annual Battle of the Business Stars Volleyball Tournament starting at 9 a.m. Sunday, August 5, at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center.
Teams will be made up of six players with a maximum of three alternates. A lucky losers bracket allows for multiple play. Trophies will be given to 1st and 2nd place winners and the lucky loser team. Just 16 teams can be accommodated so businesses are encouraged to register as soon as possible by calling the chamber at 776-0100. Entry fee is $200 per team.